Last week we had our old gross bathroom floor demolished and new swanky tile floor was installed. Normally, we try to do home improvement projects ourselves but sometimes it is best to hire a pro.
The pros were done in like four days which was fantastic. And now I have a lovely new floor that is even and easy to clean. Plus it looks about 10,000 times better.
Of course now, I'm looking at the old bathroom counter which has seen better days. And then the paint could use some touching up - maybe it would be easier to just repaint the whole thing. And the tile in the shower surround might need a little TLC.
Or we could demo out the rest and do something new!
Luckily, I've volunteered to help friends paint at their house this weekend. So by Monday I might have let go of my thirst for destruction. Or at least Deeps will have taken some time to hide the crowbar.
Labels: 2008, house, marriage
By: Alyssa | Friday, June 27, 2008 at Friday, June 27, 2008 | | 
Next week we're doing a little project in our third floor bathroom - new tile floors. The old tile is okay, however it is small, hard to clean, and has not been white since before we bought the place. Tasteful "Laguna Bay" (soft sandy color) will replace 1 inch hexagons with 1 foot squares.
This requires a very minor disruption to our lives as we move downstairs for a few nights while the handymen do their business. Normally, we'd do a project like this ourselves but I figured given our full-time jobs and other obligations, we should just job this one out.
Not to worry - I plan on not hiring a landscaper and to attempt to prune back privets that have grown to be over 17 feet tall. These are trade-offs that one must make.
In other news, my
friends Mark and Greg are totally re-doing their kitchen in dramatic fashion. I've been following it eagerly online since they've been blogging their experience. I've also been meddling, like I do, and offering lots of suggestions for tiles and paint and cabinets.
Frankly, they are both holding up better than I do(as are
their kitties) in such circumstances.
Last year we had 3 days of disruption when new counters were installed in the kitchen and I was a raving banshee. I'm trying to be better about the tile floors in the master bath. Luckily, we have another bathroom - so that will probably be okay.
Except when it isn't and I go crazy again.
Labels: 2008, house, weird stuff
By: Alyssa | Friday, June 13, 2008 at Friday, June 13, 2008 | |
My friend is trying to buy her first home. She and her husband have scoured the greater metro area to find a small, single-family home that is in their price range. It's been tough, but they think they finally found the place.
Then came the inspection and problem with the foundation was identified. As we all know, foundation problems can be bad and expensive - it could be a dealbreaker. She was desperately hunting for a good contractor to give her an estimate on the repair.
Earlier in the week she'd talked to our mutual friend, Driver, who said he had a bad feeling about the house. Now this is not a completely weird thing for a person to say - but it is a completely weird thing for our friend Driver to say. I was dubious about his position.
Me: I think he's trying to backpedal from his general pessimism.
Homebuyer: So what's his feeling about the house?
Me: His feeling is that he doesn't want you to feel like he's a jerk.
Homebuyer: And what if there is something wrong with the house?
Me: Well, we already know there is something wrong with it. That's why you're calling the contractor.
Homebuyer: Yeah.
Me: Plus, you're buying an old house in New England. There is something wrong with it. It's an old house. I live in an old house - there's stuff wrong with it. Nothing is level or square or plumb.
Homebuyer: You're right.
Me: Of course, your house could be built on an old burial ground. Or it's haunted.
Homebuyer: Maybe the contractor can tell me about that.
Me: Right, you've got to understand what kind of ghost situation you're dealing with.
Homebuyer: Like are those load-bearing ghosts or are they non-essential ghosts.
Me: Is the foundation being kept up with paint, duck tape and ghosts?
Homebuyer: We'll have to wait for the report.
Labels: 2007, filler, house
By: Alyssa | Tuesday, August 14, 2007 at Tuesday, August 14, 2007 | |
We had a small problem with our counters, which became apparent when the counter guy came to do a final inspection of the installation. So more work happened. We took plumbing apart. More epoxy. Then
more fumes.
So the house smells, it's kind of hot and we're in various stages of disorder. Unfortunately, this also means no podcast tonight because the heat and the smell have made me crazy. But the counters are done and when I stop trying to convince myself that $1 bills are in fact $20 bills - sometime tomorrow -
we'll record again.
Again, my apologies for the delay. And keep your fingers crossed we re-connected the dishwasher correctly. I'm hoping I don't find a flood in the morning.
Labels: 2007, house, podcast
By: Alyssa | Monday, July 16, 2007 at Monday, July 16, 2007 | |
Friday afternoon I got a call from our counter guy. He offered to come by our house to install counters - they'd just come in from the factory.
I figured, hey let's get this over with. Hours later, I was in a haze, listening to men talk in hushed tones in the kitchen. I had no idea counter installation would stink quite so much.
Epoxy is smelly. On Saturday morning, after a good fume-induced slumber, (don't worry - I'm not going to become a huffer) I awoke to plumbing duty. More fumes.
Deeps and I successfully installed drains, faucets and made connections. So far, no leaks.
And tonight I have a new sink, swanky counters and a flashy new faucet. I feel like I could conquer the world.
That may be the fumes talking.
Labels: 2007, house
By: Alyssa | Sunday, July 15, 2007 at Sunday, July 15, 2007 | |
We usually do one kind of large (well, large for us) project every year. Last year we did crown molding. It wasn't especially expensive but it was incredibly time consuming (for us). Our skills are kind of lame.
This year I thought we should branch out and upgrade the kitchen counters. I got a good referral from our friend Sparky for a guy. And now we're set to get new counters tomorrow which is extremely exciting (for us).
The only downside in this process is that we'll get a new stink installed (undermount) but that it won't be connected to the plumbing. So certain members of the family, fresh off a victory over the toilet in the master bath, believe that they can make a couple of connections.
I've offered that I'm willing to go two days without a working kitchen sink - but after that we hire somebody.
So time will tell how this little adventure works out. I can only hope it goes better than the crown molding. I was patching nail holes and touching up paint for months afterward.
Labels: 2007, house
By: Alyssa | Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at Tuesday, July 10, 2007 | |
We returned home last night and unloaded the car after a quick trip to the grocery store.
The trunk was open and we were loading up to carry groceries in the house when we could hear something loud.
Me: Can you hear that?
Deeps: Yeah, it's loud.
Me: Sounds like a smoke alarm.
Deeps: Like our smoke alarm.
And so we were greeted by the sweet, dulcet tones of
100 decibels of blaring noise. You can hear the blaring from outside the house and inside it is deafening. My ears are still ringing.
I'm not sure why the smoke detector is so touchy, but I think it hates spring (pollen). Or it likes to torment the cat. She was so freaked out she was cowering under the daybed in the basement. Deeps found her when he pulled out the ladder to deal with some of the peskier alarms.
We replaced the batteries last weekend after a similar event - we came home from our first trip for fro-yo and heard the blare. This latest event was triggered, we believe, by a defective detector.
It's been disabled and we've figured out how to replace it. So I've thrown it on the ol' weekend shopping list. If I'm still unable to hear by then, I'll hand my list to the guy at Lowes and hope for the best.
Sadly, the alarm damaged our hearing and terrorized the cat - but it didn't do anything to drive away the evil blue jays. Next time birds, next time.
Labels: 2007, house, weird stuff
By: Alyssa | Friday, April 06, 2007 at Friday, April 06, 2007 | |
I've got a million little projects to finish before the end of the year. Sure I took the cat to the vet, cleaned out the basement and hung new shelves. But there is still a lot left to do like revise my W4 forms for next year (we're withholding too much), rebalance my 401k, and recaulk the bath tub. And we really need to install a handrail on the front porch steps.
The problem with this project is that we have concrete steps. Ever try drilling into concrete? Talk about a job where you need the right tools. Luckily, I know Sparky and he has more hard-core stuff than I do. He and his wife just renovated their kitchen.
And he tried to feed me slightly (or severely) undercooked turkey for Thanksgiving so I feel like I can call upon him for a favor.
Labels: 2006, house
By: Alyssa | Monday, November 27, 2006 at Monday, November 27, 2006 | |
I cleaned the living room yesterday - okay, I put some stuff away and used the Hoover. I should totally get a medal or something.
I was actually inspired by the
ApartmentTherapy Fall Color contest which is underway. While my living room isn't quite as fancy as the rooms pictured in the contest we're still very happy with the wall color. We got lucky - it's soothing in the summer and refreshing in the winter. If only I'd been so good with the office color. Next time, color wheel. Next time!
Labels: 2006, consumerism, house
By: Alyssa | Tuesday, October 24, 2006 at Tuesday, October 24, 2006 | |
Checklist AhoyHomeowners Insurance:
checkPainter hired:
checkDoor Hanger hired:
checkMovers hired:
checkMeasuring visit to new house:
scheduledPaint colors:
partially pickedBoxes Packed:
13Closets cleaned out:
0Days to move day:
30+We went to the paint store to review colors and pick up some pots of sample paint.
Now Deeps has the color wheel and is trying to be a paint detective to figure out why we can’t get certain colors we like. We’ve got paint for the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen picked out. The master bed and bath will be shades of blue - Waterfall and Blue Spa, to be precise.
The living/dining room is totally problematic. We wanted to do shades of green in the living/dining room and kitchen. So the kitchen will be “Pear” green and we’re looking at something more basil/asparagus like for the living room.
Except that the Benjamin Moore people don’t seem to carry anything quite that color. We’re kind of close, but not exact – and that’s what bugs me. And seems to really bug Deeps.
While none of this is really that problematic, it is funny to watch him try to figure out what color we should choose. Now he’s talking about the second floor colors – the rooms we’ll paint ourselves.
He’s digging through dozens of paint chips and looking at the color bible. From time to time he comes into the office and holds up paint to the desk or the bookshelves we have in the office.
“I read that orange is one of the hot colors, but I think orange will make the desk look more orange than cherry,” he said to no one in particular. “And I think we’re going to have to paint these bookshelves. The woods clash.”
I’ve made myself a little decorating monster.
Labels: 2005, house
By: Alyssa | Sunday, May 08, 2005 at Sunday, May 08, 2005 | |
But does he know he’ll be working?Since we announced we’d be buying a house, my father has been very vocal with his support and offers of help: he wants to come out and build stuff.
He even volunteered Bangles help – I don’t think she even knows. I can see them now: wayward loners, traveling across America installing new linoleum and building small decks. Its genius I tell you – greenlight it for 13 episodes.
When we told him we’d gotten the duplex, he perked up and suggested a trip out this summer since he’s got some free time (he’s a school teacher) after he finishes his summer school stint. I mentioned this to Deeps.
“Does he know that we’re going to try to put him to work?” he asked me in all seriousness.
I then recounted the history of the Boehms: Boehm fathers come to Boehm children’s homes to do stuff. My gramps came to our houses during Spring Break and for a week in the summer to help build lots and lots of things. My father now goes to my sisters’ houses and helps them build and install stuff. I’m just late to the game.
Plus we have a secret weapon – Grandma Slim. She’s fresh out of her three weeks of retirement with a new job, a new figure and lots of vim and vigor. I got a report from Cuddles that Slim had blazed a trail of bleach and cleanliness through her house on a recent visit.
Sign me up – my bathroom could use some help. Of course the big problem with them visiting this summer is that our “projects” - painting and putting on a storm door – will be done by the time they arrive. And we’ll be out of funds to do any more this year.
Now that I think about it – if there’s nothing for them to do, they may not want to visit.
Plus I’m totally going to have to buy a better saw. The old man may want to supervise that purchase as he did with the last one. He may have hoped for sons, but he seems pretty happy with a bunch of daughters that have their own tools.
Labels: 2005, house
By: Alyssa | Friday, May 06, 2005 at Friday, May 06, 2005 | |
We have achieved houseThe P&S took longer to resolve than we thought – but on Sunday morning we called our broker.
“Do we have it?” I asked anxiously. “Otherwise I’m going to open houses. I must devise Plan B.”
My agent told me to get out of the clock tower.
“Let me check the fax, hang on,” he said. A few seconds later he came on the phone. “It’s signed. We’re going to close on this place at the end of May.”
Deeps and I had the speaker phone on and yelped with glee, probably causing ear damage for our agent. I even got a little misty - I didn't realize how much we'd been holding back on being really, really excited.
Later Deeps said he was only 85% excited because he wanted the paperwork in hand. I was excited enough to buy a book to
organize my house records. Man, when
Jasclo is right – she’s right. I’ll be gifting this book to everyone I know buying a home. And I’d like to say nice things about the
Black and Decker Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair. Wow. That’s good stuff.
So now we meet with some potential painters – we have 28 x12 ft room to paint along with the master bedroom with the 13 ft. cathedral ceilings. I think I’ve got to leave that to the professionals.
Now for my new checklist – projects for the next 24 months. Hurray!
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Monday, April 25, 2005 at Monday, April 25, 2005 | |
I messed upToday we waited to hear word that the Purchase and Sale agreement that we signed and delivered to the sellers last night was signed and delivered back to us – thus moving us further down the road of home ownership.
We didn’t hear anything, thanks for asking.
While w discussed how nice it would be go “reclaim our life from the house hunt” we recognized a few facts: we may not be done and we’re going to Italy in a few weeks. Deeps is mentally preparing for the former while I’ve been planning for the latter.
Clearly – I wasn’t doing enough planning.
“Do you know if my passport is still valid,” Deeps asked me over lunch.
I was making a mental list of stores to visit as I was on the hunt for a dress. I barely processed his question.
“What? How should I know? I don’t even know where it is,” I replied.
“Hmm…I wonder if it is still valid,” he asked aloud – more to himself than to anyone else.
“Wait – I spent over two grand on a trip to Italy and you didn’t check your passport yet?” I said tersely as the couple at the next table eyed us.
“Uhm – well. No. I’ve been very focused on the house hunt,” he stated simply.
“But we leave in like 3 weeks!”
“I know – I messed up,” he said with a simple shrug.
Since we were not at home, we couldn’t do anything about the situation. I moved ahead with a swift assault on the various and sundry dress departments at several major department stores. I went home empty handed – but I had a couple of good prospects. But the bigger worry was if I had to go to Italy alone.
Because someone messed up. And now I can report, several hours later – that he indeed messed up. That passport expired a couple of years ago. And now, he’s got to hope and pray and pay for expedited service that he gets it back in time. Otherwise, I’m going to Italy by myself – but not before I leave a boot in his ass.
And I still haven’t heard anything from the sellers. Maybe we have a house – but maybe we don’t. Just like any other weekend in April.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Sunday, April 24, 2005 at Sunday, April 24, 2005 | |
Dirty laundryI’m moving to a different part of the office building at work – so I have to pack up my stuff this week.
I’m not sure when I’ll have time to do that – but whatever. I did start pulling out some personal stuff that I could take home. I don’t take lots of stuff to work: I have one photo and a small pile of books and my gym bag. I know some people really like to personalize their space and bring all kinds of stuff – but after the great lay-off of 2001 – I find I like to travel light.
Besides, we move around the office space enough that it can be a pain to haul extra stuff. The biggest area of accumulation for me is gym clothes. I forget to take the dirty gym clothes home, because I prefer to carry them in a plastic bag to keep their dirty stuff from mixing with the other items in my messenger bag.
But I almost always forget the plastic bag – so I throw clothes in the drawer to take home later. When I remember. So yesterday I opened the drawer – it wasn’t terrible – but I did have about 3 weeks of marinating gym clothes to carry home. I pulled them all out – dirty socks and drawers, t-shirts and gym pants – and threw them into a shopping bag.
That’s when I found the mother load of shoes.
I totally forgot about 3 pairs of shoes I’d stashed in there: a sassy pair of heeled mules, some nice heeled loafers, and some Mary Janes with a stacked heel. You see the trend – heels in the drawer. Because God knows trying to walk around town in the heels will get you a twisted or broken ankle. Plus you’re slower. And I can’t walk for miles in them, like I can something with a flatter sole.
So I’d leave them at work and truck in to the office in my sneakers or some sandals. I would venture to guess most office-working women in America have such a stash in a drawer or under their desk.
And to think just last week I was going to buy some black loafers just like the ones I already had. Oh the shame. So I filled the bag with dirty laundry and shoes. New shoes – in my view.
Which is good I got something new for free – kinda – because I started looking at Deeps’ list of suggested home improvements. I had no idea my beloved had such inventive and expensive ideas. Who taught him such things?
I blame the house porn.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at Wednesday, April 20, 2005 | |
I’m faxing as fast as I canToday I’m sending approximately 4000 pages of financial documents to my awesome mortgage broker. He’s good – seriously.
He called me last week all atwitter to get me to lock a rate that had dropped like an 1/8th of a point because… I’m not sure what caused the drop. But it dropped. So I got my mortgage locked for like 5/16ths less than I thought. Which is a lot when you’re trying to borrow all the money in the world.
Since we sign the purchase and sale agreement – which is what you sign like 5 weeks before you do the closing – we’re faxing him updated documents. I faxed a bunch of stuff last week, but apparently there are specific rules in the “secondary market” (which is where our loans are coming from) about the documents you send. If your statement is 13 pages long, and you only send the first 2 because they have information and the last 11 have ads for cheap jewelry or something… you have to send all 13. They don’t care that there’s no useful information.
I sent the first two because I was keeping it short and sweet. Whatever – I’m not messing up our loan. So I’m scanning and faxing. We don’t have a standalone fax anymore. We did for years but never used it. During this house process I have faxed at least a dozen times.
To fax from home is convenient, but not always great – like today. I’ve been faxing for about an hour and the fax has a mind of its own. As far as I can tell I’ve faxed the same documents like 10 times each. And they may or may not make any sense upon arrival – so I might have to fax them from work tomorrow.
Oh yeah we have today off today – it is Patriot’s Day – which I believe marks the fleeing of the redcoats from Lexington or something. And the Boston Marathon is run.
But mostly it’s the day I fax 17 million pages of bank statements to my mortgage broker. Because I will not be the one who mucks up the deal. No freaking way.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Monday, April 18, 2005 at Monday, April 18, 2005 | |
Big dayNot only did
we find a house, but I got my first comments spam. Could a girl ask for anymore?
The pictures are pretty limited right now, as you're not allowed to photograph the house when it is filled with the owners' stuff. Which I can totally understand - plus they have a cute kid, so you don't want to make anyone freak out. But here's the picture from the outside. I cropped it so that you can clearly see our half.
What should be our half - if nothing weird happens. I hope nothing weird happens.
But this is us we're talking about. So there's a good chance something weird will happen.
Including the weird comments from Deeps. Just last night he suggested he'd be interested in "taking on a project." Like? Stripping the painted woodwork.
What? The man is maybe going to be a homeowner in 6-7 weeks and he's already got the puttering bug. I'm totally going to buy him a tool belt.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Friday, April 15, 2005 at Friday, April 15, 2005 | |
It’s like half a houseSomeone finally accepted an offer. From us.
Oh yes. Happy day. Actually – that day was Monday. I know – I’ve been sitting on important information Internet. But if it is any consolation, you’re finding out mere hours after our family.
Today we had the inspection. I think we might actually buy a house (okay, technically half a house. But still).
What I hoped would happen on Monday didn’t. I thought we’d be on some cool walk or something - like on TV - when the call came. But I was about to get on the T and I took the call – I thought it was Deeps. It was our agent. The news was anti-climactic in a way. Sure, it was further than we’ve come in the past. But we still had to make it through the inspection which was a big hurdle. No one was getting overly excited.
But after two hours today with a very delightful inspector – I would say the hurdle was more of a speed bump. We’ll ask for a few fixes, I’ll hope they get made and then we move forward to the next step – handing over all our money forever and ever. And then we’ll pack a little for that Italian trip.
If all works out as planned – we won’t have to buy each other wedding anniversary gifts this year. We’ll be walking into our new house.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Thursday, April 14, 2005 at Thursday, April 14, 2005 | |
Open House weekend #9: She got the goldmineWe hit about four places today. Two were extremely nice and affordable – but alas they were too small.
As we waited for the start of the open house at the first place, two other couples joined us. I figure we had a couple of years on each of them – but roughly we’re the same demographic: Young couple looking to buy their first home.
One couple talked excitedly before going in. They stood in the driveway and surveyed the area. The other consulted with the clipboard and had a listing of other OHs in the area. They were wearing matching shirts.
The couple in the driveway had apparently been at the place just the day before. We heard the realtor greet them warmly as they approached with “it is nice to see you again.”
The blonde woman responded loudly, “Oh my God! We love this place so much!”
Nice poker face lady. I snickered to myself. I get razzed all the time for getting overly excited and enthusiastic about places. Which is true – but that happens when I’m away from the property.
When I’m at the property I’m all business. You’d probably have a tough time getting a read on me. Same for Deeps. I think that would explain why – with each bid – the seller’s agent has always expressed surprise if we make a bid.
We’re tough people. These two couples made a lot of rookie mistakes – luckily, this house wouldn’t make them pay for it. Some houses make you pay later. Didn’t think about the heating and cooling system? Oh that’s going to sneak up on you during the inspection. What about the roof? Yeah – they’re only good for 25 years – if you’re lucky. And if you need a new one you’re going to need double digit dollars to replace it. And guess what - those aren't considered "improvments".
Later in the afternoon we hit a place we’d seen earlier in the week. It is occupied by renters – the two flat is entirely rented out. Now the owners are trying to flip the property. Sadly, these rental units are very uhm – they look like old rental units.
The
kitchens are woefully outdated, as are the bathrooms. The floors are in bad shape. The walls need paint. The tenants are filthy (women! With jobs!) and leave stuff everywhere. One place is occupied by smokers. By the smell – I’d guess they’re smoking about 18 packs a day. The other unit is inhabited by three large rabbits.
When we showed up to see the smoker unit, the tenants hadn’t been informed we’d be arriving – so they let us in but it made for an awkward viewing. We bailed before we’d e even seen the whole place. I had some cautious optimism for the place. If we updated the kitchen (I estimated new cabinets, counters and replacing the very old appliances to be about $15K) and redid the floors (about $3/square foot) it might not be so bad. Oh but
the windows. They ALL need to be replaced. I estimated about $500 a window – that place had a lot of windows…then there was the bathroom and the mirrored wall in one of the rooms.
The place needed more than an update –
it needed an overhaul. And when I hit $50K for work to modernize the place – I quit. Look – it is one thing to sink some money into one big project: updating the kitchen or the bathroom. It’s another thing to have to do multiple big ticket projects. There’s no way we could ever have hoped to sell that place again without doing that work – and frankly, just to make it acceptable to us – we’d need to do it.
The lesson here - updating your house makes it better for you while you live in and also makes it more appealing to buyers down the road. And if you have pet rabbits, clean their cages before the OH.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Sunday, April 10, 2005 at Sunday, April 10, 2005 | |
0 for 4We made a bid this afternoon and after a few quick counter offers, we walked away from the table.
The sellers were, to be generous, expecting an awful lot of us and offering up precious little in return. And we’d dealt with these people just a few weeks earlier when we’d put in an offer on their house – which the used to leverage a better offer. Of course that deal fell through and they invited us to bid again.
We would not have bid again except that the latest bid we’d made on Thursday had completely collapsed by Saturday morning.
I don’t know a lot about real estate – but I do know a lot about negotiation and bargaining. You have to give a little to get something in return. This is like – basic negotiation 101. I guess these sellers missed this lesson.
The other thing that is important for us at this date – I have absolutely no problem walking away from something. None of these places is so special and amazing as to warrant my taking leave of my senses. Sometimes this is a little tougher for Deeps – as it does take a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to do so much, get so close and then realize that you cannot bridge the gap.
But then he had a sandwich and a King Size Reeses Cups and everything was much better.
This week, if we make a fifth bid and are rejected we are tied with the most rejected couple in our agent’s history. It is good to have a goal.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Sunday, April 03, 2005 at Sunday, April 03, 2005 | |
So we just found out that we didn’t get the house that was basically a done deal.
Our agent was haggling with the seller’s broker over the specifics of the offer contract – dates primarily. The money and the closing date were settled; he wanted specifics on the timeline for inspections and deposits, etc.
I’m not really sure what happened. We were the first people in the house. We made an offer immediately. It was rather generous. There were no other offers on the table. We were hammering out the details – and between this morning and this afternoon the seller sold the house to someone else.
I am nearly speechless. Except, I’m not surprised.
Deeps sat down for a minute when he heard me on the phone; even our broker was stunned. After a few minutes of shock, there was nothing. No sorrow or lost. Mostly annoyance.
So we go back to what we do on Sundays. We look at houses. We make offers, we hope for the best. We expect the worst.
They can’t hurt us anymore. We are totally dead inside. There’s a lesson in this somewhere – I’m just not sure what it is.
Labels: 2005, house
By: Alyssa | Saturday, April 02, 2005 at Saturday, April 02, 2005 | |
House dreams – part 714More
dreams. Apparently they
often feature celebrities. But of
course!I recall that I had to enter a house, via a side window – apparently the owners thought doors were gauche - that had a shower and kitchen in the same room. And that was it.
And apparently
Fifty Cent (aka
Fiddy around our house) gave me a referral for a guy who could “hook my kitchen up.”
Word.Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Friday, March 11, 2005 at Friday, March 11, 2005 | |
House Dreams – part 319Last night I dreamed we bought a house. It was a really great house
We had a huge party.
Our friends accidentally burned the house down.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Thursday, March 10, 2005 at Thursday, March 10, 2005 | |
Is this unusual?I’m dreaming about houses – a lot.
And not just houses, but stuff that goes wrong.
A few weeks ago I dreamed that Deeps bought us a single room in a huge apartment – and then had ripped out part of the wall to expose the outside. Oh and we paid a $1MM for it.
This dream classically illustrates my primary anxieties: we can’t find anything that is livable and that we won’t be able to really afford what we buy.
The dream I had last night was a little different. I blame that book I read a few weeks ago.
I dreamed that we found a really big place – it needed work, but we thought we could handle it. Then
Peter O’Toole shows up and starts talking about stuff that is wrong – like otherworldly wrong – with the place. And then we get some poltergeists in the form of Eddie Albert Jr. (circa his
Butterflies Are Free era) and a lady I used to work with at the Tribune about 8 years ago. They were haunting our house.
The only way we could get rid of the poltergeists, according to Peter O’Toole, was to break every single thing in our house. And that might work.
We did that – the ghosts/poltergeists were like … fine, we’ll leave. But we reserve the right to haunt your new home. So I guess we had to move.
Then I woke up.
So Interweb homebuyer people – did you have lots of weird dreams about buying houses when you were looking? Or am I off my rocker?
Okay let me rephrase that – off my rocker
more than usual?
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Tuesday, March 08, 2005 at Tuesday, March 08, 2005 | |
We don’t know where our house will be…But we are fortunate enough to know where to obtain
hoohas should the need arise. It is nice to know that I can fulfill our housewares and hoohas needs in the same place.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Monday, March 07, 2005 at Monday, March 07, 2005 | |
Days of Stress and Freak outsFriday morning we met with the buyer’s broker realtor. He’s an extremely nice man. Deeps and I spoke with him and his team – three other people – about topics from how many bathrooms we need, are we going to have kids.
I rolled my eyes and asked if he’d been talking with Cuddles. He looked at me with a puzzled expression.
The thing you don’t really think about when you talk with a realtor is that you enter into a weird like therapy session. Because you go in thinking that real estate is a pretty boring topic; dispassionate in all areas – money, taxes, fees, etc. And yet you quickly start talking about your hopes and dreams for your life – as they manifest in your search for a home.
You hope to have a place for a library, and maybe a garage. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little garden? We need two full bathrooms – so that guests can feel more comfortable when they visit.
And just like that you’ve moved from the boring stuff (taxes and school districts) to the blank canvas of your future.
We enjoyed our time with the broker, he is incredibly energetic and knowledgeable – he’s got a good support system of contacts as well. I feel pretty comfortable moving forward with him. Deeps actually said “I like the guy” which is almost unheard of in such transactions.
We ran some numbers with him and realized that we can take a hit on rent for a month and end up moving into a place earlier – thus making an offer earlier – which means we could probably get into a place by early summer. This made sense and the numbers worked and suddenly we realized that we could do this in the next 6 weeks.
Whoa.
We spent about two hours speaking with him – then headed off to the office. Deeps dropped me at work. My head was splitting. I was so utterly overwhelmed and over stimulated and desperate for a cup of coffee – I could hardly speak during the drive.
Deeps was quiet for a long time. I couldn’t tell what his position on the whole situation was.
He turned to me and said, “Well Red – I think we’re going to buy a house.”
The hunt is on in earnest.
Labels: house
By: Alyssa | Saturday, March 05, 2005 at Saturday, March 05, 2005 | |
